Delhi: Najafgarh wetlands committee to monitor work on restoring jheel

The panel to be chaired by the South West Delhi District Magistrate will assess, monitor, and guide the work that is to be done to rejuvenate and protect the Najafgarh jheel, a transboundary wetland that lies partly in Delhi and partly in Haryana.

The Wetland Authority of Delhi will also develop a wetland management plan for the jheel, including measures for its ecological restoration. (File)

The Wetland Authority of Delhi has constituted a Najafgarh Wetlands Committee to be chaired by the District Magistrate, South West Delhi, to assess, monitor and guide the work that is to be done to rejuvenate and protect the Najafgarh jheel, a transboundary wetland that lies partly in Delhi and partly in Haryana.

The Wetland Authority informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in a recent status report that the Najafgarh Wetlands Committee will comprise representatives from stakeholder departments, including the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Development Department, PWD, Irrigation and Flood Control Department, Forest Department, Delhi Pollution Control Committee, Power Department and Delhi Jal Board.

The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) had taken the matter of restoration of the Najafgarh jheel up before the NGT. In an order earlier this year, the NGT had asked Delhi and Haryana to enforce an environment management plan prepared for the rejuvenation and protection of the Najafgarh jheel. The implementation of these action plans is to be monitored by the National Wetland Authority through the respective State Wetland Authorities.

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The NGT order also stated the outlet of the Najafgarh jheel, which leads to the Najafgarh drain, should remain free from sewage before it joins the Yamuna river.

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The Wetland Authority of Delhi will also develop a wetland management plan for the jheel, including measures for its ecological restoration.

The framework of an environment management plan is already in place, with immediate, medium-term and long-term measures to be taken. These include the commissioning of a species inventory for the jheel by the Forest Department and a hydrological assessment of the jheel to be done by the Irrigation and Flood Control Department. The Irrigation and Flood Control Department has started desilting of the Najafgarh drain and the removal of water hyacinth from it.

The Forest Department is inviting proposals for a species inventory and to monitor the waterbird population by adhering to protocol, including the ringing of birds to determine their movement patterns and connections with other wetlands in Delhi, according to the status report that was submitted to the NGT. The department has invited a request for proposals.

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The Najafgarh jheel was among 10 water bodies that the Wetland Authority had identified for notification as wetlands last year to accord protection to them under the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules.

In a similar status report submitted by Haryana recently, the State Wetland Authority of Haryana stated that the treatment of wastewater from Gurgaon will be enhanced from the existing 188 MLD (million liters per day) to 550 MLD to prevent untreated water from reaching the jheel.

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